David H

First off, "a bit more intimidating"? Speak for yourself! It would add something like 100-300 listings to my ballot! (I'm not even gonna try to figure out a guestimate to how many it would actually be!) Even with their use of the grouping method (which I use for the bottom 2/3 of my ballot), imagine how many more lines it would add to Robb's or Elissa's ballot? A little history here. I remember back when Mitch was first making the wood and steel polls. He solicited a lot of input on what should and shouldn't be listed on the steel poll. The problem was that his computer and program could only handle a certain number of items. So that's where the whole grouping thing came in. The idea was to get a whole lot more coasters in, while staying within the limits of the programming. That's why you not only see production model coasters like Vekoma Boomerangs listed, but you also see all spinning mice and all steel wild mice listed together, even though different models from different manufacturers can differ quite a bit. (It's also why so many individual -- but not terribly special -- coasters aren't listed at all.) And let's be honest. Does it really matter where the clones sit on the poll? I mean, the only clone to crack the top 100 are the Batmen, which place (shamefully low for such great coasters!) at #76. And only three other production model coasters -- Zacspin at #147, X SC 2000/3000 at #166, and Half Pipe at #195 cracked the top 200. And theoretically those are for the very best of each model/type (or at least the very best one you have ridden). So say, that Mitch didn't lump all the Boomerangs together. You're right that it's the perfect example. Even with it being listed as the FAVORITE Boomerang, rather than the TYPICAL Boomerang, it still ranked at #298 out of 342 ranked coasters. So, maybe your ballot has it skewed favorably. But, honestly, would it really make much of a difference if you didn't count the best one in the 50's and had it in the 100's? Even if it dropped a dozen or more notches, does anyone really care exactly where in the bottom half of the poll it ranks? I don't think that Vekoma would get upset -- or sell any fewer coasters -- if the Boomerang dropped down from #298 to #333. Nor would anyone get terribly excited if it suddenly jumped from #298 to #254. For the record, I personally think that Boomerangs -- when they are well-built and well-maintained -- are actually quite a decent design. I ranked them in the first tier outside my top 100, which is still in the top half of my list. Honestly, the only coaster type for which you could make a good argument for NOT lumping them together, since they rank relatively decently would be the Batmen. And even then, does anyone actually care enough to bother? Is there really THAT much of a difference between them anyways? I used to keep a separate personal steel list - apart from the one I submit to Mitch -- with every single steel coaster ranked. But once it got above 100 or so, I just couldn't be bothered any more. It's just too much effort for too little interest. But it would mean that I'd have to rank another 2 dozen or so coasters -- and that's just counting this one model! If you separated all of the "fav" categories out, I'd have to add several hundred other coasters. And most likely, most of them would all fall in the same general range anyways, with one or two ranking particularly higher or lower. I guarantee you that I would not bother to take the effort, and probably wouldn't bother to take the poll at all. I suspect that most others would do the same. It's already enough of an effort to fill out the steel poll! Let's not make it any harder!

Actually, that's only because Mitch changed the rules for when the mutual rider tie-breaker kicks in. Last year, it was when the difference between two coasters was under .001 WinPct. This year, it's when the difference between two coasters is under .0005 WinPct. That means that the tie-breaker didn't kick in for iSpeed and Pyrenees. Under last years rules, it would have, and iSpeed lost their mutual ride contest 2-3. That would have moved Pyrenees into the top 10, knocking iSpeed down to #11. For the record, I'm one of those 3 who voted Pyrenees higher. Both are great rides -- and maybe I'll get the chance to love iSpeed more after my return visit in July. But Pyrenees currently stands far higher on my list (3 vs 40.)

I'd be really tempted to do this. In fact, I'll briefly be laying over in Toronto on the way back from Europe this summer. I probably could have pushed back my connecting flight to get over to do this. Luckily, I"ll be there 2 days before it opens, so I won't be tempted to try. Plus, I'd miss my chance to ride Goliath at La Ronde.

Well, I think the CP fanboys have always managed to rig all of the polls. Well, they don't rig them. They just irrationally love all of their coasters more than they deserve. There's something about CP that has always been kind of a mecca for coaster enthusiasts worldwide. And everything there seems better than it actually is. And ranks higher than it deserves. It's a testament to how bad Mean Streak is that it ranks so low, at least in Mitch's poll! I mean, seriously, what exactly does MF do that's so much better than almost any other coaster out there? Even die-hard Intamin nuts like Elissa rank it much lower than it ranks in ALL of the polls. (Note: I'm a big Intamin fan myself, particularly when it comes to their hypers, so there's no criticism there!) As for "misguided devotion", I'll strongly disagree with that notion for both Prowler and Voyage. I'm not exactly a newbie in this hobby. Nor do I unfairly jump to support anyone's coaster unless it deserves it, IMHO. And I'm hardly a WoF fanboy. In fact, I actively disliked the place on my first visit, over a decade ago (one of the reasons I didn't go back until last year)! Not am I a huge GCI fan. I like their coasters, but none of them was in my recent top 20 list before Prowler. So, I went into the ride without huge expectations. And it really showed a power and intensity I'd never seen from GCI before, except maybe kind of from Ozcat on a really good day. I was quite impressed. I ranked it at 19, which, while not quite as high as it did on Mitch's poll, is still damn good! But Voyage is another story. I've ridden nearly 150 woodies, over 3/4 of the woodies on the planet. And no other coaster even comes close to doing what Voyage does. Pretty much every other coaster in my top 10 (hell, pretty much my whole chart) could jump up or down a notch or two (or 20) depending on the day and my mood. Most of them are pretty close to the coasters before and after them in the rankings for me. But honestly, Voyage is on a tier all its own. Some of you may not agree with, or may not like what it actually does, or may think it's too rough or too intense, but I honestly think there's nothing like it on the planet. (Although some of you may be happy about that!) It's not "misguided devotion." It just happens to deliver exactly what *I* like in a wooden coaster in a way that no other woodie does. There are a few things it could do slightly better to make it the more perfect coaster for me, but it comes closer to perfect for me than any other coaster that currently stands. Now, if you want to talk about misguided devotion on woodies, how about Phoenix, Thunderhead (which appears to be finally waning), Cornball Express (which I've never understood), or especially LIghtning Racer? All fine coasters, and all a ton of fun. (Well, Cornball less so.) But none which has deserved the devotion they've gotten in certain circles, IMHO. And, for the record, I'll agree with you on Montu (my #1), Kumba and X (I haven't ridden X2 either), all of which are in my top 10, but not in the poll results' top 10. And in sentiment (although not quite in ranking) on Maverick (my #29, which is a still quite high, considering that I ranked almost 250!)

It's the only park with two coasters in the top 10! Who would have thought that a few years back? And it definitely challenges Cedar Point, with 2 in the top 20. Well, now I'm feeling good about all the work I've done and will have to do to get there this summer. I have less than 48 hours in Italy (in between Scandinavia, and Ibiza), and I'm flying into Milan. Originally, I was going to be more realistic and just try to get out to Gardaland for Raptor -- with possibly a side trip to Aquaworld and/or Movieland at Canevaworld. But with the reports of Raptor being not very forgiving on big asses -- and with me having a big ass! -- I didn't want to spend the day at the park and not get on the one coaster I really want to ride! (All of the rest are mediocre, although fun.) So, I've planned a convoluted day to hit both parks. If all goes according to plan, I'm taking a train as soon as I get to Milan into Bologna, where I'm spending the night. (With my flight's later arrival, that's about as close as I can get that night.) In the morning, I'm heading to Mirabilandia, where I'll immediately get their Q-Bot system and ride both coasters as much as possible (plus the new credit once) until around 2-3 PM, when I head to the shuttle bus to the train station to take THREE trains and another shuttle bus to Gardaland. Yes, that's two busses and three trains! I might take a quick stop to check in to my hotel near the Peschiera del Garda train station and drop off my bags, and I might also just take a cab from there, since it's pretty close. I'll probably arrive at Gardaland 2-2.5 hours before they close. but honestly, all I really care about doing is Raptor (if I fit!) and the new walkthrough haunted house. If I get on any of the other coasters, it's a bonus. And I won't be afraid to buy their version of fastpass, since it's only about $15. Then, I head back to my hotel and sleep as much as I can. I get up in the morning and take the train back to Milan, where I'll try to see again their magnificent Duomo (cathedral) before seeing da Vinci's "The Last Supper" -- the one major thing I missed on my last trip to Italy. Then back to the train station for the bus to the airport, and off to Ibiza for some serious clubbing! That's six busses, six trains and a few subway rides in 48 hours! But, hey it's TWO top 10 steel coasters (although iSpeed's a bit lower on my list), and hopefully (if I fit) a world premiere B&M coaster! If I can get at least 3 rides on each of Mirabilandia's top coasters (which shouldn't be a problem -- I can probably get 5-6 on Katun, if Q-bot times are 15-20 minutes, which they were at a similar time of year in 2009) and can fit on Raptor, then all that effort will be worth it! Yeah, I know. I'm crazy!

When you consider how many people who visit Disney ask where the Harry Potter ride is, it's not a stretch to say that people will be confused by the two similarly named areas.

SInce I don't have a DS, I won't be playing it. But Lion King and Aladdin are two of my all-time favorite video games, as I've told Robb before. (And I played them long before I ever knew Robb!)

I just want to finally get to Hadrosaur Cove! After all my visits -- even in Japan -- I've never gotten to see it!

You know, we're all sitting here saying "I told you so", but let's be honest: most of us were hoping they'd pull it off, so we could go and ride -- even if it was only open for months! And if some investors lost millions on it, who cares? We'd have gotten our credits!

It's interesting that part of the Snyder regime is now testifying that a reorganization had tainted the chain and cost the company ticket sales, since people didn't know if they were open. Especially when you consider that they were the ones who did pretty much the exact same type of reorganization a few years prior to that, kicking out Shapiro and company. Or is their argument that reorganizations that put us in power are good for the company, but reorganizations that take us out of power are bad for the company?

Well, this is true to some degree. There is nothing special about riding a coaster a month or so before someone else. However, after a certain amount of time, and depending on maintenance, an aging coaster can leave you with a less pleasurable ride. For example: I feel bad for those that didn't get to ride Ghostrider pre-2002. That can actually go both ways, though. Sometimes wooden coasters need some time to break in and get up to speed. I don't really understand the physics and mechanics of it, but it can definitely be noticeable. My first rides on Hades were shortly after it opened. I was disappointed that it definitely wasn't as fast or powerful as it could have been. I didn't get a chance to ride it again until last year, at which point it had gotten rough as hell. It definitely was faster and more forceful than my first rides, but that was counterbalanced by the rougher ride. I wish I'd gotten a chance to ride it in between, when it was wilder, but not quite so rough. It's still a great ride, but I wish the park could afford more maintenance on it to keep it smoother. (Not to mention a ride crew who gave a damn about getting the trains out even somewhat quickly!) As to Twister, I'm excited to get to ride this in July. Unlike many, I'm going to avoid watching the video until I ride. I'd rather experience the ride in person, rather than know much of what's going to happen beforehand. Hopefully, it will have broken in by then without having gotten rough!

The problem is that I want to get at least one ride on it, since it's it's new for me. I'm sure one ride will be fine on it. Any idea how bad the lines for it will be less than an hour into the day? Would it be worth trying to get over there after 13, and before the skyride to Air? Or should I just sacrifice that as my one long wait of the day in favor of getting over to Air quicker and hopefully getting a couple of rides on that and Nemesis before the crowds get there. I'll have 8 hours there, after all, so I can probably afford one long queue, even if I'd rather avoid it. It's just a shame that it's not part of the ERT this year. It's odd that they chose their higher throughput rides (Oblivion, Rita and Nemesis) all over the park for ERT. Maybe they're hoping to sell more fastrack tickets that way? It's also a shame that the only way to get a Fastrack for Spinball is with the Ultimate or Platinum fastrack. I'd totally buy one of the smaller packages if it including Spinball. But 42 pounds is a bit much if I'm only going to need it for a few rides, especially with the shorter day. Speaking of Fastrack, where in the park can you buy them? Is it only in the front of the park, or do they sell it in other stores? And how do they run it now? When I was there in 2003, they had Disney-type machines in one location for tickets at a specific time, but the tickets were free. Now that they're charging, I'm assuming you can use the tickets at any time? Again, thanks to everyone for the advice!

Any idea why they close at 5:30 on a few selected days, but at 6PM on others? There doesn't even seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, unless they are basing it on school bookings? For instance, the week before I'm going, they're open until 6 PM on every day except Friday, which is usually a later day for parks in the US. But on the week I'm going, it's open until 5:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, but stays open until 6 PM on Wednesday and Thursday. And why is the waterpark open until 6 PM every day those weeks, except on Fridays when it's open until 7 PM? Also, does Spinball have a single rider line? When should I squeeze that in? Or just suck up the wait and endure it for one time? And how bad to the queues for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory get? Again, I'm not opposed to getting Fast Track, if I need it, although I might avoid the whole park one, unless it ends up super busy with school groups. Unfortunately, Spinball only seems to be part of the whole park one. Or maybe after 13, before the monorail to Air and Nemesis? Or would the queue for Spinball already be long by that time? Should I throw in Hex while I'm near it for the Skyride, or would the queue for it be so short during the day that I'm better off getting over to Air ASAP? Well, I think I might have to renew my ECC membership, since it may have expired a few months ago. In fact, I should do that ASAP! I did the joint ECC/ACE trip to Japan in 2006, as well as the Italy trip in 2009, the week before the ACE trip to Spain. I'm actually doing the ACE trip to Scandinavia, which is the same time as the ECC Germany trip. (too bad they didn't plan them a couple of days apart, or I might have done both!) So. obviously, I won't be doing the ECC Sweden trip. I wanted to get in the rest of Scandinavia, too. In fact, the Alton trip is actually just before the ACE Scandi trip. I was originally just doing a quick couple of days in London on the way, mainly for sightseeing and clubbing -- and the Doctor Who exhibition! -- and maybe a day at Thorpe and Legoland. But I decided to move it up a couple of days and make it a 4.5 day pre-trip, adding in Alton Towers and another day of sightseeing. (Which I'll need, if I get the Merlin UK pass, since I'll hit up Madame Tussauds, the Eye, the Dungeon, Sea Life, etc.) And thanks for the advice, Andy and Dan!

Well, if AT's website is accurate, then Spinball isn't part of the ERT this year. This year, it includes Oblivion, Rita, Nemesis, Hex, Runaway Mine Train, Heave Ho, Marauder's Mayhem and Shark Reef. Assuming that I'll skip the last three, and RMT as well (although I may catch a ride later), what's the best plan? I actually want to get a ride on Hex this visit, since I missed it last time. Is it still getting long queues during the day on a moderate day, or has it died down? With the length of the whole show, should I skip it anyways for ERT, in favor of more rides on Rita and Nemesis? Also, I'm going to want a ride or two on Oblivion, but would it take me too far out of the way on the way to Rita (or Hex)? I'm a big fan of Nemesis, though. I'm wondering if it would be worth getting a bunch of rides on it (and Air) during and right after ERT, and just cough up the money for a fasttrack or two on Thirteen (which comes with a Rita FT too), if the queues are too long. It might be worth getting a few extra rides in while I'm over there, rather than spending all that time running over to Thirteen. I'm most likely going on Tuesday, July 12, unless I'd be better off on Monday because of expected bad weather. Speaking of which, what is AT's policy on rain? Do they run the coasters in rain, if there isn't lightning? Also, they're closing at 5:30 PM that day, which seems quite early. Any idea why? Also, I'm not afraid to pay for Fasttrack, if it ends up being worth it and the queues are too long. I probably wouldn't shell out the money for the unlimited one, and may not do the ultimate one either (unless queues are really bad all around the park!), but I'd do the Scream and Dark Forest ones. Also, I'd really like to check out the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride. Are the queues usually long enough to buy the Adventurer fasttrack? I'd also use it on the Mine Train, but might skip the flume and rapids (how wet are they?) Also, which rides currently have single rider queues? On my last visit, I completely forgot about the one on AIR (despite being warned about it by Justin from the ECC!) until just before we left on the second day! I managed to take advantage of it only once! Luckily, we had two real ERT sessions on it, although I did get stuck on if for quite a while! Thanks for any help.

I don't really have too much to add here, other than it looks like a lot of fun. But since the third word of the title is my last name, I thought I should put in a presence here! Some day I'll have to get to an actual German fair to see how they really run their flat rides. The closest I've come is to go to a fair outside Paris.

El Toro at SFGAdv on Labor Day. In fact, it was a triple ride at the end of the day in the second to last row. They let anyone who didn't have someone waiting for their row ride again. I was actually going to head out just before the first of those rides, but decided on one last ride, which became three. It's not like me to leave a park before closing, but I had to catch the bus back to NYC, and was afraid I'd miss it. But I couldn't leave with no line! I ended up having to run all the way to the back of the parking lot to get my bus. And despite the previous warnings from the bus people that it would be leaving quickly, I ended up waiting at least 10-15 minutes before it left. So, I hadn't had to run. Oh well; at least I got a few extra rides in! I'd have been annoyed if I'd skipped the last ride(s), and then waited for the bus!

I just don't understand why Paramount would sell their entire theme park chain in the US, then decide to build a big park in Spain, where there doesn't seem to be all that much demand for theme parks, other than PortAventura. Where is the logic in this?

There's about 10 seconds of actual POV in that video! Most of it is the reverse from POV, with us looking at the bored guy just sitting there riding (and not really reacting to the ride at all!) Still, I'm looking forward to riding it in July.

Have they confirmed what the rides will be for the ERT sessions this year? I'll either be buying a ticket online or a Merlin season pass. (I'm probably hitting Thorpe, Legoland and the Eye, so it might be worth it to ge the pass and add Sea Life, Tussauds and the Dungeon, as well.) So, either way, I should be able to make the ERT session. Also, are the bus times reliable from the Stoke-on-Trent railway station? If it runs on time, I should be at Alton at 9:02. I'd take the earlier bus, but it's over an hour earlier, and I'll probably be taking an early train from London (unless I decide to brave driving on the other side of the road in the UK or to take the train the night before.) So, if it's fairly reliable, I can skip a few minutes of ERT, if I'll still get in in time to get some rides in before the rest of the public. Annoyingly, the ERT rides are scattered all over the park. (You'd think it would be easier for the park to have all the open rides in the same area!) By the way, I'll most likely be going on July 12. For some strange reason, they close earlier than normal at 5:30 that day, and several days in early July. Is there a buyout or something on that day? Also, does Alton keep the queues open until closing time? I'll have to plan which train to take home. And if I can get into a queue a bit before closing, that might keep me there later than expected, so I should allow for that if I buy my train ticket in advance.

Yeah it is based on the Scooby movie with Sarah Michelle and Freddy Prince as the movie was recorded on the sound stages in the park Cartoon Network also did a live action movie called "Scooby Doo and the Curse of the Lake Monster" last year, in which they recast all of the parts. The CGI Scooby in that also looked like the one in this ride. The story itself was kind of stupid, but in many ways it was VERY faithful to the original show, even more so than the movies, with TONS of in-jokes for fans. They also kind of made fun of attempts by other remakes to modernize their shows by making fun of how they try to bring new relationships into old concepts. It's at the same time fairly badly written and a complete hoot. (Am I officially old when I call something a hoot?) I haven't been on the Aussie versions, but the ones at Gardaland in Italy were quite comfortable. I mean, yeah, I'd rather have nothing over the shoulder, but if they have to have them, then these were tolerable. On the ECC Italy trip, most of us actually wanted to ride several times during our ERT. That's more than I can say about just about any other Vekoma looper! I know what you mean. I was seriously considering going on this trip. But then they decided to make it later in the month (which is understandable because Robb said they'd heard that some of the bigger coasters might be in rehab.) A friend and I have been sort of planning to hit Australia for their Gay Mardi Gras some year (supposedly the biggest Pride celebration anywhere,) so the reschedule made me decide to do Aussie in the future. Currently, I'm looking at 2013, and that trip may well expand into a crazy 5-6 week round the world trip hitting something like 10 countries on 5 continents (not counting a layover in the States.) So, I'm actively watching this thread to see what's worth seeing and what are the "don't miss" attractions. Also trying to get a sense of which parks can be done in half a day. If I end up only doing Aussie, then I'd spend a day at each park, but if it ends up being a huge trip, I'll probably pair up some of the Gold Coast parks. I'm also definitely going to take in some snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, which is a must for me!

This event is meant to be a winter event to hold people over until the coaster season starts in snowy New England. A chance to get some coasters news and presentations from the parks, and to hang out with your coaster friends in the mid-season. I don't go because, as a waiter, I can't justify losing $200+ in tips, plus paying for car rental and gas and the cost of the event itself. Hell, I generally can't justify that for an event at a local park that DOES have riding and ERT! But for people with the day off, it seems like a fun way to get together with friends and keep up with what's going in in the local coaster world. As for riding, ACE events almost always have ERT. In fact, this year's convention has 13+ hours of ERT. The official tour of Texas add-on brings that total to over 20 hours of ERT in a week. (And the regional chapter's add-on days before and after the Con brings that total to around 25 hours.) I believe that this may be more ERT than any coaster event or trip in 2011 by anyone. There may be other reasons to like or dislike ACE, but not getting ample riding opportunities is not one of them!

On the subject of Intimidator, I can understand people having different opinions of the coaster. That's natural, especially for such an extreme ride. The most extreme rides always have a real variety of opinions about them, since everyone likes different things in coasters. But it's completely unacceptable to boo park staff for any reason. Especially at an enthusiast event, like the TPR day was. Period. It's blatantly disrespectful and unappreciative. It makes us all look bad. And it makes TPR look bad, even if it's not Robb or Elissa's fault. It would be completely fair for TPR to ban such people from the board or events. And it was absolutely right for Robb to call such people out publicly at the event (and in this thread.) That said, I think it's fair for people to be disappointed with the brakes or the restraints, or frankly anything to do with the coaster. I'll admit that I was somewhat disappointed with I305. Unfortunately, I went at the worst time: after the brakes were added, but before the restraints were changed. And one of the main reasons that I was disappointed with it is because it seems like just my type of coaster. I tend to like coasters with a lot of extreme forces. I like coasters with a lot of positive G's and a lot of laterals. And I generally can tolerate a decent amount of the bad (i.e. painful) violence if it comes with a hefty dose of good intensity. So, I305 should have been a top coaster for me. But I have to admit that the hard restraints made it hard for me to really appreciate the ride. I spent most of the ride trying to keep from getting hurt by violently banging into very hard restraints. On EVERY ride I had, I heard others saying OW several times, especially at that sharp turn right before the picture was taken. (In fact, when I looked at the pictures, I could always see more than a few people grimacing in pain, NOT laughing from fun, as you usually see in on-ride photos!) I'm hardly a wuss. I actually enjoy quite a few coasters that are nearly universally panned as being too rough. If you look at my ballots in Mitch's polls, you'll see that I rank a lot of rough coasters higher than most enthusiasts do. But, for some reason this was just too much for me to not have it affect my enjoyment of the ride. The restraints definitely dropped it at least a dozen or two notches below where it would have otherwise been. Now, I know this will probably sound hypocritical, but I also thought that the brakes did detract from the ride. These weren't some small trims. At least not when I visited (June 9, to be precise.) Maybe it was just my enthusiast trained perception, but I could REALLy feel the brake. After all, it took up a large portion of the first drop. Trim brakes always work best on the uphill sections of coasters, because they're less noticeable. While the brakes didn't hurt the coaster as much for me, it was very noticeable. But I'm sure that if I'd ridden it a few weeks later, with the new restraints, I'd have liked the coaster a LOT more. On the way out of the park, I ran into a manager of the park. He actually pulled me aside, because I was wearing a coaster shirt, and he mistakenly thought I'd been there with the ECC group that happened to be there the day before. He asked me what I thought of the coaster, and I told him the truth. I said it's a great coaster, but I really hope the rumors of them changing the restraints was true, because they really detracted from the quality of the ride. He told me that the coaster wasn't actually supposed to ever have had those restraints! And while he said he couldn't officially verify anything (especially in the internet era!), he strongly hinted that the rumors I'd heard were true. The only comment I made about the brakes was that with more comfortable restraints, it would hopefully be possible for them to lessen the brakes and still be enjoyable fro most people. And I definitely did thank him for having the ride built in the first place! Honestly, I think that was a fair balance. I was overall positive and thankful. But I let him know what was my major concern for the ride, and only because he specifically asked for my opinion. (Up until that point, I hadn't said anything about the restraints of the brakes to anyone.) And I think that if I'm not going to give an honest opinion, then that opinion is worthless. It's a shame that it's unlikely that I'll get back to KD for a few years. For the next couple of years most of my coaster travels will be abroad. I'd honestly love to see what I305 can do when it has the chance to shine. And I'm sure I'll love it, though it will remain to be seen exactly where it will fit in my rankings. Right now it's right around #40 (out of over 600 steel coasters, so that's still damn good!) I'm not even sure what to do about it in Mitch's poll, assuming the steel one happens. For this year, it seems fair to rank it, since it did ride like that for a good part of the season. But next year, I'm not sure if it's fair to even rank it. After all, it will be hopefully much better this year. i think that's one of the dilemmas with these polls. What do you do if everyone tells you that ride has significantly gotten better or worse, especially if they've made specific concrete changes to the ride, but you haven't experienced them. Do you just vote on what it was when you rode it, or do you skip it altogether. Good arguments could be made for both answers.

Agreed. But if they're going to set the rules so that people can vote every day, then they shouldn't complain that the fans of any particular park stuffed the ballot box! It's one thing is the rest of us complain about the results... as some of us inevitably will! Thta's what coaster geeks do. But it's another thing when the writer of the results articles is effectively saying that the results of their own poll are worthless and wrong.

Notice that the article focuses on indoor waterparks not doing so well. Maybe that's because most people who go to water parks like the sun? Or maybe it's because they're generally MUCH smaller than their outdoor counterparts? Or maybe it's because the hotels that are usually attached to them are VERY overpriced? Like in any business area that has an explosion in popularity, the best of the businesses will succeed and the worst will fail. Water parks exploded in the past two decades. And more recently indoor waterparks, usually attached to hotels have exploded. And now, like with any product, the huge demand has somewhat subsided, and only the best will survive. How many water parks are there with a half dozen slides, a small wave pool, a small river, a small kiddie area and a lot of lounge chairs? And how many of them charge almost as much as the huge Schlitterbahns and Noah's Arks of the world? Is it any surprise that these parks don't do well? It's the same problem that so many small amusement parks are facing. They can't compete with the larger competitors.

Well, looting isn't common in Japan for the same reasons that theft is very uncommon there. Their culture is based on honor and respect and trust. Stealing would dishonor your family. As such, the fines are also much greater than here. I remember seeing all of the bicycles (hundreds of them as some stations!) just left unlocked at train stations, and being surprised that no one ever stole them. Here in Boston, if you left your bike LOCKED in public for long, people would still steal anything they could: tire, basket, seat, etc. It's such a different culture. I hope that everyone in the TPR and enthusiast communities are doing as well as they can. It's moments like this that put all of our petty concerns into perspective.